But we are at the dawn of a new trip to the PDX playground of beer. After visiting the city several times over the past few years, we are running out of new places to visit.

Now hold up quick before you start the attack: we know that you could visit a Horse Brass, Concordia Ale House, Belmont Station, Green Dragon, Deschutes, and Henry’s Tavern about 1000 times. I could stand another trip to Hopworks Urban Pub (HUB), The Beermongers, or New Old Lompoc’s barrel room – Sidebar. Seriously, we know.

But I thrive on new experiences and I am going to be in one of the best beer cities in the U S of A. So what are a few other places we might explore?

Saraveza – Imperial IPA Fest

Ok ok ok – this one is not new at all. I’m somewhat ashamed that I have been to Portland at least a half-dozen times without even a “pop in” to this Northeast Portland spectacle. Saraveza is one of the more celebrated Portland beer pubs and deserves better than a “Trip #7″ scheduling.

But, as it turns out, we might be right on time. This week Saraveza is holding Imperial IPA Fest. The festival began yesterday (July 14) and runs through Sunday, July 18. It features over 30 different imperial IPAs, including offerings from Oregon brewers Laurelwood, Deschutes, Beer Valley, Oakshire, Alameda, Ninkasi, Lucky Lab, Double Mountain and even Gilgamesh (making a debut). Thursday showcases Pike Brewing and our boys from Everett, WA – Lazy Boy Brewing.

We’ll be there on Friday, tasting favorites from Hopworks!

County Cork

Another classic Portland beer bar that has escaped us – County Cork. The Cork is a classic English-style pub with a rumored connection with Columbia Distributing. Because of the connection, they appear to have Russian River beers on tap the majority of the time. A pint of Pliny or a pint of Blind Pig are generally in the cards.

On top of those beers, the Cork has an excellent menu. I’m fairly excited to try their scotch egg, hoping it exceeds the fried and battered monstrosity over at Horse Brass.

We’ll be by there tonight.

The Mother Load – Apex – A Beer Bar

Last, but certainly not least, is Apex. Apex is an attempt at creating the perfect beer bar experience for the NW. Tons of taps, incredibly rare beers, outdoor hanging space, and bike-centric, Apex meets the needs of the new world beer bar.

What built our immense excitement for this place? Its real-time tap list, which currently shows me that I should be there drinking their beer – right now! Hair of the Dog Blue Dot, Alameda Yellow Wolf 2x IPA, Double Mountain Vaporizer, New Belgium/Elysian Trip III (this still exists!!!) & Orgone Peppercorn IPA (what!?). Its pretty damn impressive.

A great description of Apex and its aura was posted at the Beer Cave recently. We also received a glowing endorsement from Seattle Beer Week & Brouwer’s Cafe‘s Ian Roberts, one of our most respected beer sages. Its safe to say that we will be visiting Apex this weekend. Expect a 52 Weeks writeup on this grog spot soon!